James Reviews Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout Blu-ray Re-Release [Criterion Collection New Releases]

If any film deserves the praise and loving attention of today’s Criterion touch, it’s spine number 10, Nicolas Roeg’s “Walkabout”. Covering this film about 6 weeks ago on the Criterion Cast, this was my introductory episode to the podcast and what a film to be introduced to in the first place. Seeing bits and pieces of this film for years and then having the film come back to me via the Ozploitation documentary “Not Quite Hollywood” (as one of the ‘arthouse pictures’ they look down upon), I was excited to see this film and understand why so many Australians have loved and hated this film over the years.

After a near murder from their father, a brother (Luc Roeg) and sister (Jenny Agutter) narrowly get away from him in the wilds of the Outback. After he burns the car, their only means of escape and kills himself, they are on their own to fend for themselves in this scary world they are not at all used to. Searching for what they know as ‘civilization’, they first almost come to the grips of starving and thirst, then to learning about who they are as people and ultimately finding out that they didn’t truly know everything about life like they had known before. With the help of a Aboriginal boy (David Gumpilil), they come to the trials and tribulations of this journey, conversing with him in ways they had never thought to communicate with anyone in their lives.

Criterion does a wonderful job not only of remastering this film in the Blu-ray format but in giving us, the viewer, a wonderful viewing experience and home entertainment as well. Consdering the 1998 release still looked quite fine but you could always see that something was missing, they took the original print and restored the film to what Nicolas Roeg has intended the audience to see, and the care they’ve put into it shows. You’ll never see the Outback look as pretty and menacing, all at once, as this film delivers.

And the extras on the disc are wonderful as well. From an hour long documentary of the life of David Gumpilil, who played the Aboriginal boy in the film, we get to to see his journey through Hollywood from “Walkabout”, his first film, to one of the most lucrative films ever to come from Australia, “Crocodile Dundee” and to today, where he is one of, if not, the most prolific Australian actor you never knew about. We also get retrospective interviews with Jenny Agutter and Luc Roeg, which is interesting, especially coming from Luc Roeg, who is Nicolas Roeg’s son and was only 6 years old when the film was made and watching him speak about the making of and his father shows the common theme of family in the film even more amazing.

There’s not much more I can say about “Walkabout” besides the simple fact that if you haven’t seen this work of art, then do so as soon as possible. A coming of age tale like no other, it’s one of Criterion’s first releases and still is to this day, one of their finest achievements in the collection.